Cat of a Different Color: Halle Pumas, Book 3 (9 page)

Gabe stepped out onto the porch, gun in hand. “Two shots out back, one out front. Richard’s down but not out. One dead, one wounded, both ours.”

“Sheri?” Adrian growled.

Gabe shook his head. “Not quite sure what happened but as soon as the shots rang out she took off for the front door. One of Rick’s men saw her go but wasn’t close enough to get to her. Rick tried to stop her but got taken out. We’ve got a license plate, and a Wolf followed the car for as long as he could before he had to double back.”

“Where the hell were you?”

“Trying to get to the sniper.”

“And?”

“He got away when I heard the shots out front. I shot at the car just as they took off, but missed the damn tire.”

“FUCK!” Adrian shouted. Both hands clenched in his hair. “What the
hell
was she thinking?”

A pained growl erupted from the Pack Alpha where he sat on the porch floor. “Rudy told her he had you. She couldn’t reach you, so she believed it. Is your cell phone on?” A dish towel was pressed against his shoulder and soaked through with blood.

“She is in so much trouble when I find her,” Adrian growled as he checked his cell. “Yes, it is.”

“Yours too?” Richard pointed with his chin to Max and Simon.

“Yup.”

“After what happened at Wallflowers? Damn straight it’s on.”

“Check in the car, see if there’s an RF jammer somewhere,” Gabe said to one of the Wolves. The man nodded and went to look.

“What the hell is an RF jammer?” Simon asked.

“Radio frequency jammer. Really illegal just about anywhere, but something a mechanical engineer would know how to build,” Gabe answered.

The Wolf came back quickly with a small yellow device the size of a deck of cards. “This is why no one could reach you.”

“Okay, Adrian, think! Where is she?” Max demanded.

“How the fuck should I know?”

Max glared at him as Simon went to the Durango and helped Belinda out. “You’re the Marshal. She’s pride.
Where is she?
”

He concentrated on his mate, his eyes turning gold as he felt where Rudy’s hands were on her body. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”

“Good. Where are they?”

“In a car, still moving. He’s…” Adrian snarled, holding back the primal scream of his Puma with difficulty. “I think he’s trying to rape her, and she’s fighting him.” She’d lost her sunglasses somewhere along the way and the pain of the sunlight in the car was excruciating. He felt like both of his eyes were being stabbed with knives.

“Can you smell anything?”

Adrian found himself belted into the front seat of the Durango. A large red Wolf leaped into the back seat, a shoulder wound bleeding sluggishly all over Max’s leather upholstery. Another Wolf, this one smaller and a lighter red (
Ben, the Marshal
his Puma whispered) joined the larger, wounded one. He sniffed, but the smell of blood and Wolf nearly overwhelmed him.

“You have to use her senses, not yours. What does
she
smell?”

“Why don’t you try this?” Adrian growled.

“I would if I could but I can’t. I’m not the Marshal.”

He took a deep breath and tried once again to reach his mate. She could smell Parker, the driver, and her own blood as Parker’s claws ripped into her soft flesh…

And the smell of the Susquehanna River.

“Shit. She’s about fifteen minutes away, somewhere near the Susquehanna.”

Max took off in a squeal of tires. “Think he’s heading for Harrisburg?”

“Not sure. If he picks up I76 he could move into Ohio or further east towards Philly.”

“Then we have to catch him before he hits the highway.”

His cell phone rang. “Gabe.”

“I’m on my way, following an alternate route. Consider yourselves escorted by the police.”

“Thanks, dude.”

“No problem. I can fucking
feel
what he’s doing to her. The son of a bitch.”

“We’re cutting him off before he gets to the highway.”

Gabe sucked in a breath. “We’ll never find them if he takes her out of state.”

“No shit.”

“He heads east and he can pick up I95.”

“I know.”

“I’m calling in a few favors. Trust me, he won’t get much further.”

Adrian stared at the dead phone in his hands and wondered what his Second was up to.

“God damn it! Stay on the fucking road, Steve!”

“I’m trying, Rudy, but there’s a bunch of fucking yahoos with trucks blocking it!”

Rudy lifted his head from her breasts with a growl. He’d just succeeded in getting her jeans off her, leaving her completely naked. “
Go around
.”

“What the hell do you think I’m doing?”

Sheri squealed as shots were fired.

“What the fuck?”

“They’re shooting at us!”

Rudy sat up and pulled out his gun. He peeked over the top of the bench seat and stared out the windshield, and the scent of Puma came through. Those “yahoos” were her Pridemates.

Sheri could barely see, so she stayed down. She recognized the sounds of rifles being fired, and did the only thing she could think of. She hit the floor of the car and covered her head with her arms.

Bullets shattered the windshield, raining glass down on top of her. Rudy cursed again and fired back as Steve tried desperately to go around the roadblock.

“Fuck!”

“What?” Rudy snarled at his driver.

“Tire’s blown.”

She could feel the car fishtail as the driver tried desperately to bring it back under control. “
Adrian
!”
she screamed as loud as she could, firmly convinced he was responsible for this and praying he would hear her over the noise of the gun battle.

Because if he didn’t get her out of there, her Puma would. And then hell would
really
break loose.

The sound of his mate screaming broke something inside Adrian. “Up there,” he snarled, already ripping his clothes off. He knew the men on the road block were Pumas; Gabe had called him back as soon as he’d set it up. They would do their best to hold Rudy in place until Adrian could arrive and kill his ass.

He shifted right there in the front seat, uncaring that his claws ripped Max’s leather seat. Max reached around him and opened his door and he leapt out, making a beeline for the car Rudy had his mate in.

The snow-white puma came soaring out of the back window with an effortless grace that burned through him. Her bright red eyes were fixed on him with fear, love, relief and hope. She was almost safe.

A gunshot fired.

She stumbled, and went down.

And his heart, missing its core, stopped beating.

He looked from his fallen mate to the man in the car, the Wolf with his mate’s scent all over him, the smoking gun still held in his hands, and realized he had one more task to complete before he joined his mate in death. But even that was denied him as the huge red Wolf sailed past him, leapt into the car and in one strike ripped out the throat of the rogue.

Adrian crawled to his mate and nuzzled at her wound. To his relief she grumbled, and his heart started beating once more.

She lived.

He curled up around her and allowed the Wolves to deal with the remaining rogues. He had more important things to do.

Epilogue

“Your heart stopped.”

“I thought my mate was dead. Of course my heart stopped.”

“What happened to those wonderful Marshal powers? You’d think they would have told you I was mostly stunned.”

Adrian cuddled her closer. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t exactly thinking at that point in time.”

He hadn’t been able to let her go in hours. They sat on the front porch, curled up in his swing, enjoying the night air. He barely felt the chill. He had his snow princess safe and in his arms, keeping him warm. The four blankets he’d wrapped around them didn’t hurt either. She’d mentioned something about buying a chiminea for the front porch. She’d had to explain what that was to him, since he didn’t have a clue. When she told him it was an outdoor Mexican-style fireplace, his Puma had purred its approval of that idea.

After all, his snow princess only liked to come out at night, and he had to keep her warm. He couldn’t wait until summer, when she said she’d show him the joys of “moon bathing”.

She nuzzled his neck, planting a tiny kiss. “I’m fine. Once I shifted back to human the bleeding stopped. It was just a flesh wound. Although I admit it stung like hell.”

He pulled her even closer with a low growl.

“Can’t. Breathe.”

He loosened his hold on her with a huffed laugh. “I don’t think I’ll be able to let you out of my sight for a good long while, sweetheart.” Hell, if he could he’d rig a papoose and carry her everywhere.

“What happened to the rest of Rudy’s Pack?”

Adrian snarled. “Dead.” And a good thing, too. Adrian had been damn near feral by the time they got Sheri back home. If any of the rogues had been alive, he’d have eaten them. Literally.

“You shouldn’t be walking,” a deep, cold voice said. They turned to look and realized the window behind them had been left cracked open, probably in an effort to remove the blood scent. They looked at each other, pretty sure they knew who Richard was growling at.

“I’m sorry, do you have a medical degree? No? Shut up.” Belinda’s voice panted, pained and pissed at the same time.

“You’re in pain.”

Belinda gasped mockingly. “I am? Really? I never would have guessed.”

“Then you shouldn’t be walking.”

“My doctors told me to move around as much as possible, as it will speed the healing process.”

“Heart-stopping agony speeds the healing process? In that case I’ll break out the red hot pokers. You’ll be better in no time.”

“Look,
Dick
, I’d much rather be riding the morphine train right now, but if I ever want to shift again then I need to get the goddamn pins out of my hip. If I ever want the pins out, I need to heal. My doctors told me to walk in order to heal. So sit. Stay. Good dog. Arf.”

Adrian and Sheri shared a wide-eyed glance. Belle was giving the huge Pack Alpha grief?

“She must be in an awful lot of pain,” Sheri whispered.

“Sit down before you fall down!” Richard bellowed.

“You lay one single paw on me and I will bite it off! Got it,
Dick?
”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Then stop acting like one! I hate to tell you this, Dick, but you ain’t the boss of me!”

“Oh, really?” There was a brief silence, and then Richard howled. “Ow! You
bit
me!”

Adrian started to laugh, his shoulders shaking silently. Sheri had one hand over her mouth, her eyes filled with horrified amusement.

“Back off, Fido. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

When the big Alpha growled, Adrian found himself in the house before he could blink. “Back off, Richard.”

The Pack Alpha glared at him. “I’m not threatening her! Not much, anyway,” he muttered as he glared at the blonde trying to walk around Adrian’s living room. She was using the wheeled walker the hospital had recommended. Pain etched fine lines next to her lush mouth and her green eyes glared right back at the big redhead. She was dressed in the rattiest blue robe he’d ever seen, with blue bunny slippers on her feet.

Ben, the Pack Marshal, was standing near his Alpha, one hand over his mouth as he tried to stifle his own laugh.

“Isn’t it time for you to toddle on back to your den, Dick?”

Richard’s smile was coldly sensual. “Not without my mate.”

Belle narrowed her eyes at him. “Someone actually has the misfortune of being mated to you? Poor bitch. Give her my condolences.”

The smile slipped off his face. Sheri made her way into the room and to Adrian’s side, her lips quivering.

“Belle?” she said. It sounded like she was choking on a laugh.

“What?” Belle snarled, her eyes turning gold as her Puma surfaced.

“I think he means you.”

Belle’s eyes widened as the big Pack Alpha nodded once.

“Look on the bright side, Belle,” Adrian choked as he tried not to laugh. Belinda looked like she’d swallowed a live fish. “This should solve your Pride problems.”

“You’ll be telling me all about those.
Won’t you
.” The Alpha crossed his massive arms over his chest and glared at Belle.

It wasn’t a request, it was a demand, one that had Belle stiffening in outrage. Adrian decided it was time to get out of the line of fire. Shaking his head, he grabbed Sheri’s hand and began tugging her up the stairs to their bedroom.

“Where are we going?” she whispered as the argument erupted downstairs once more.

“Bed. Duh,” he whispered back.

“Are you sure it’s safe to leave them alone together?”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he said as he shut the door, “I’m pretty sure Belle can hold her own.” He began undressing her. “Besides, I have more important things to worry about.”

“Like what?” She was trying not to smile, but her eyes had gone red.

“Petting my kitty.”

“Pig,” she sighed.

He cupped her cheek. “I love you,” he whispered, totally serious. He’d nearly lost her today and though he hid it well he was still shaken.

With a small sigh she wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled close. She buried her face in his neck, and Adrian closed his eyes, enjoying her scent and softness so close to his own. He began stroking her back, trying to soothe her, knowing that after her ordeal she had to be just as shaken as he was.

Just as his hand reached her ass his eyes flew wide. A startled laugh boomed out of him as, very softly, she began snuffling his neck and oinking.

“Oh baby,” he said as he swung her giggling form into his arms, “You are in trouble now.”

“Oh goody,” she replied as he fell on top of her and began nuzzling her neck, “because I’ve been a very bad kitty.”

As he stilled above her, his cock throbbing between them even through both their jeans, she sighed. Arching up into him, she purred, “A
very
bad kitty.”

He stared down at her, eyes wide and gold as she raked her claws down his sides. When they dug into his ass he bit her again, right through her shirt as his own claws came out and ripped her jeans away. His jeans were quickly opened and his cock rammed home, both of them groaning at the sensation of hot steel encased in wet velvet. He held her down with his teeth as he fucked her, pounding into her with enough force to rock the oak headboard. It banged rhythmically against the wall, letting everyone in the house know what they were up to, but she couldn’t muster the energy to care.

He was snarling against her shoulder, his teeth still deeply imbedded into her. The combination of pain and pleasure was too much, and she came screaming around him. He stiffened above her, his own orgasm tearing a groan from him as he poured himself into her.

“Vegas sound good to you? I have a yen to visit the Elvis chapel there,” he panted a few minutes later.

She pried open one sleepy eye and glared at his dark head where it rested against her breast. “I am not going to be married by a fat man in sequins. Dork.”

He sighed and snuggled closer, a happy grin on his lips. “God, I love it when you talk dirty.” He opened his eyes and watched in satisfaction as she collapsed into giggles again. Not even the ongoing argument between Richard and Belle could dampen his mood. With the threat to the Pride eliminated, and his mate happy and in his arms, Adrian finally allowed himself to sleep.